Episode 2.2 · 30 min
How the Moon Was Made
What lunar samples and the Earth–Moon system reveal about the giant impact that most likely formed the Moon—and which details remain unsettled.
Watch this film on YouTube ↗Visual credits
14 sourcesSources and credits for imagery used in this film, including material incorporated into explanatory animations.
FullMoon2010
Gregory H. Revera
View original source ↗Source licence: CC BY-SA 3.0Incorporated into an explanatory animation; presentation may include cropping, labels and overlays.
Canup and Asphaug 2001, Figure 1 — canonical giant-impact simulation sequence
Robin M. Canup and Erik Asphaug
Mountains of the Moon
NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University
imagesapollo20190724aldrin20190724 .width 1320 image
NASA
APOLLO XV - LUNAR SAMPLE (NO. 15415 - "GENESIS ROCK)
JSC
image
CAS
Scientific figure · source page 3
Fischer et al.
Incorporated into an explanatory animation; presentation may include cropping, labels and overlays.
Image result for query 'Moon forming impact simulation Kegerreis Canup synestia scientific figure'; source host: link.springer.com; file: 11214_2022_876_Fig6_HTML.png.
Incorporated into an explanatory animation; presentation may include cropping, labels and overlays.
New Supercomputer Simulation Sheds Light on Moon’s Origin
NASA's Ames Research Center
Incorporated into an explanatory animation; presentation may include cropping, labels and overlays.
Image result for query 'NASA lunar sample 60025 ferroan anorthosite Apollo 16 high resolution'; source host: lpi.usra.edu; file: 60025_S72-44019.jpg.
USRA
Supercontinent Pangaea and mantle structure — Figure 2
Ross N. Mitchell, Nan Zhang, Johanna Salminen, Yebo Liu, Christopher J. Spencer, Bernhard Steinberger, J. Brendan Murphy and Zheng-Xiang Li
The source figure adapts Mitchell, Wu, Murphy and Li (2020); its caption also credits China University of Geosciences (Beijing) and Peking University.
Image result for query 'LLVP seismic tomography Africa Pacific mantle blobs scientific visualization'; source host: qianyuan-geo.weebly.com; file: 4-edward_garnero.jpeg.
Weebly
imagesapollo20190724reflector20190724 .width 1320 image
NASA
The Apollo 15 Lunar Laser Ranging Retroreflector - A Fundamental Point on the Moon
NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University
Research references
Selected sources from the episode’s research and scientific figures.
- https://doi.org/10.1002/2016JE005098 ↗
- DOI: 10.1038/35089010 ↗
- https://arxiv.org/abs/2103.02045 ↗
- https://authors.library.caltech.edu/records/2vaje-qnn35 ↗
- https://www.nasa.gov/pdf/475492main_HEP_II_MS_7.pdf ↗
- https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1063037 ↗
- https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo1429 ↗
- https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aad0525 ↗
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-020-0550-0 ↗
- https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11670184/ ↗
- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2017.12.026 ↗
- https://doi.org/10.1038/nature14355 ↗
- https://doi.org/10.1029/2019JE006312 ↗
- https://doi.org/10.1002/2017JE005333 ↗
- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2025.119697 ↗
- https://arxiv.org/abs/2210.01814 ↗
- https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/staf2084 ↗
- https://doi.org/10.1038/nature10289 ↗
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-024-08231-0 ↗
- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2025.119592 ↗
- https://doi.org/10.1029/2023GL106118 ↗
- https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1226919 ↗
- https://www.lpi.usra.edu/lunar/samples/atlas/images/hires/60025/60025_S72-42187.jpg ↗
- https://science.nasa.gov/solar-system/moon/genesis-rock/ ↗
- https://moon.nasa.gov/system/downloadable_items/18_15415.pdf ↗
- https://ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citations/20060051776/downloads/20060051776.pdf ↗
- https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40014691/ ↗
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-025-09131-7 ↗
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-60743-z ↗
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-023-06589-1 ↗
- https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.24013776.v1 ↗
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-39827-3 ↗
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-54416-6 ↗
- https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/the-apollo-experiment-that-keeps-on-giving/ ↗
- https://doi.org/10.1088/1538-3873/aceb2f ↗
- https://tmurphy.physics.ucsd.edu/apollo/basics.html ↗
- https://doi.org/10.1038/361615a0 ↗
- https://www.osti.gov/pages/biblio/1537327 ↗
- https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/ ↗
Music
- Meditation From The Star Orion
OctahedronMusic · Envato Elements
Footage and image usage
Credits and usage times retained from the published edition or its production credit record. Where present, times identify visual appearances, not documentary chapters. Source and licence corrections are listed in the visual credits above.
- NASA - 1:43-1:54, imagesapollo20190724aldrin20190724 .width 1320 image; 16:57-17:16, imagesapollo20190724aldrin20190724 .width 1320 image; 24:34-24:43, imagesapollo20190724reflector20190724 .width 1320 image
- CAS - 1:59-2:09, image; 19:08-19:18, image
- Gregory H. Revera - 1:08-1:25, FullMoon2010; 18:17-18:24, FullMoon2010; 28:48-28:57, FullMoon2010
- JSC - 1:54-1:59, LUNAR SAMPLE (NO. 15415 - "GENESIS ROCK); 17:16-17:43, LUNAR SAMPLE (NO. 15415 - "GENESIS ROCK)
- NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University - 1:25-1:43, Mountains of the Moon; 24:43-24:50, A Fundamental Point on the Moon
- Nature - 22:00-22:35, image
- USRA - 18:24-18:37, misc view image
- Weebly - 22:35-22:58, 4 edward garnero image
- Custom animations and figures: From Cosmos to Civilization. Third-party material incorporated into animations is credited on the linked sources page.
How this film was made
Created and editorially directed by Anders Lunde using a custom production system developed over six months. AI assists research, drafting, programming, and visual production; I review and edit the material and make the final editorial decisions. Narration uses text-to-speech. Visuals combine custom-built scientific animations, AI-generated reconstructions, and credited scientific imagery.
Generated reconstructions illustrate scientific interpretations. They are distinct from photographs, specimens, and measured data.
More about the creator and production →